78 
THE CULTIVATOR 
EFFECTS OF THE PAST WINTER. 
Never since we commenced publishing an agricultural 
journal, have we received such distressing accounts of 
the sufferings of stock consequent on prolonged cold 
weather and scarcity of fo .der, as have reached us dur¬ 
ing the past month from various parts of our country. 
In spite of the greatest efforts, and the dividing with 
their cattle the grain reserved for their families, many 
farmers have lost large portions of their animals, and the 
remainder are in such a wretched condition, that no small 
part of the summer will be required to restore them to 
the state in which the winter overtook them. These re¬ 
sults may be attributed to several causes; some of which 
were without our control, while proper precaution and 
forethought would have remedied the others. We call 
the attention of our farmers to these matters now, in the 
hope that the severe lesson so many have received, will, 
by inducing the necessary precautions hereafter, prevent 
such accumulated disasters. 
One of the causes to which we have alluded as be¬ 
yond our control, is the great length and extreme seve¬ 
rity of the past winter. Most farmers began to fodder 
their stock by the middle of November, and up to the 
middle of April, or indeed to the present time, there has 
not been the cessation of this labor for a single day, or 
at least one in which supplies of food were not neces¬ 
sary. Ail farmers are aware that the quantity of food 
consumed by stock in a given time, is greatly depending 
on the temperatuie; the colder the air, the greater the 
quantity of food required and consumed. The almost 
unprecedented cold and storms of February and March, 
have caused a consumption of fodder for which farmers 
were not prepared; and the heavy bodies of snow which 
covered the country till the middle of April, prevented 
the animals from gleaning those scanty supplies which, 
had the ground been bare, might have enabled them in 
some cases to sustain life. Another cause beyond our 
control, was the inferior quality in general of the fodder 
provided by the farmer for winter use. In a considera¬ 
ble part of our country great dependence is placed on 
the straw of the smaller grains for keeping cattle and 
horses not required for labor, and the straw of last har¬ 
vest was, as all know, of the worst quality. The most 
of the hay too, although saved in tolerable condition, 
had been immediately previous to cutting so washed and 
soaked by the heavy rains, that its nutritive qualities had 
been much diminished. It was a common remark among 
experienced farmers that the hay crop of 1842 “ could 
not spend well;” and the result has proved they were 
correct. So far, the farmers cannot be held responsible; 
not so, however, for the causes of scarcity and distress 
which follow. 
And first, many farmers were overstocked. Some 
were sensible of this; they knew so far as fodder was 
concerned “ they were short,” but they could not think 
of selling at such low prices; and besides, there might 
be an open winter, which would enable their animals to 
get a living by hook or by crook. "We cannot think such 
men can be viewed in any other light than that of crimi¬ 
nals. 
Secondly; many farmers had taken no pains, or been 
at no expense to render their animais comfortable. The 
farmer who understands his true interests, who is aware 
of the vast saving that is made in the quantity of fodder 
by warm comfortable yards and stables, and provides 
them accordingly, is rarely obliged to put his animals 
on short allowance, or invite his neighbors to help set 
them on their legs in the spring. The farmer whose 
barns are without yards or stables, who relies on rail 
fences to keep his hay from blowing away, whose ani¬ 
mals spend the long winter nights shivering on the lee side 
of a stack, or a snow drift, must expect to find his stock 
of fodder failing, and his animals in such a condition 
that his neighbor the tanner may safely calculate on their 
hides. 
There is another serious fault justly chargeable on 
most farmers, and that is, not feeding out the winter food 
of their animals, in the best and most economical man¬ 
ner. A very large proportion of their fodder is wasted, 
by being fed in such a way that the animal is unable to 
convert it into food. Cornstalks constitute one of the 
most nutritive kinds of food, yet when the farmer saves 
them at all, two-thirds of their real value is lost in feeding; 
the animal can eat nothing but the leaves and the smaller 
parts of the stalk, while the large part that contains the 
most nutriment of the whole is necessarily rejected. A 
cutting machine, by converting these large stems to chaff, 
would give many an excellent meal to animals, which is 
now lost to them. So with coarse clover. Animals will 
almost as soon eat bean poles as clover stems, but reduce 
the whole to chaff, and it is alike grateful and nutritive. 
Straw should always be cut; and if^ a little brine is 
sprinkled over it, it will be more readily eaten. 
But if it is too late to correct the errors of the past 
year we can now begin to take measures to prevent 
their repetition. It is so much better to have a little 
more than enough, that the farmer is inexcusable^ who 
does not take warning by the lessons of the past winter, 
and make liberal arrangements to secure his stock against 
the sufferings and casualties to which they are exposed. 
Let no one depend entirely on hay and straw. Even if 
he has enough of these, there are other things that should 
be added, to secure continued health and good condition. 
All animals should have some green fo ul with the dry; 
potatoes, turneps, or carrots, with the hay and straw. 
The farmer should have enough of these to furnish a 
small quantity daily to every animal; and to do this his 
calculations must be made in season. There must be 
planting, cultivating, and harvesting, before they can be 
had for stock, and roots require the most of the season ; ful, particularly in clay soils, or those liable to suffer 
for their perfection. Let farmers, too, who have strug- " ' ’ — 
gled through the winter with much difficulty, and wish 
to guard against the recurrence of such trouble, plant or 
sow an acre or two of corn, not for soiling, (though it 
should not be neglected for this purpose,) and when at 
its full growth, cut it and cure it for winter use. Nume¬ 
rous experiments prove that, on good land, six tons of 
cured stalks may be considered certain; and if so, there 
are few ways in which so much good fodder can be se¬ 
cured from an acre. In any event, the farmer can reduce 
his stock in the fall to the standard of his food; and he 
should do so, until there is an absolute certainty he is on 
the safe side. Straw cutters and stalks will greatly 
lengthen out his stock of fodder, and no man ever has 
cause to regret his expenses in preventing suffering, or 
adding to the comfort of his domestic animals. 
HINTS FOR MAY. 
The imusual duration of the winter, has, in the north, 
so far retarded spring work as to throw its various ope¬ 
rations together, and render necessary a greater econo¬ 
mization of time than usual. Farming operations must 
be planned with reference to this fact, and the work first 
needed must be first performed. 
Spring wheat must be sown early. Or there is little use 
in sowing it at all; the ground should be clear, other¬ 
wise the weeds will get the start of the slower germinat¬ 
ing wheat. 
Barley and oats may be sown later. Where these 
crops are grown on lands infested with the thistle, (a 
bad practice by the way,) the sowing should be delayed 
until the ground is warm and in fine condition, that the 
check given the weeds by the last plowing may enable 
the seeds to germinate and the plants get start of the 
weeds. If this is done, the thistle will do little injury, 
comparatively, to the croi). 
If your work does crowd, do not plant your corn un¬ 
less your field is properly fitted for that crop. Better not 
plant corn at all, than to plant on exhausted, imperfectly 
[)repared land, and after all your labor find your crop a 
failure. On a majority of our soils, 30 bushels an acre 
will not pay the cost of cultivation. By adding a little 
more expense, in manure and preparation, you may get 
from 60 to 80. 
If your soils are heavy clay, do not suffer yourself to 
be tempfed to plow them while wet. In doing this you 
may inflict an injury to them, which it will require years 
to remove. In the facility of working at all times, soils 
inclining to be light have the advantage of all others; 
but vvhere clay prevails in its character, the plow con¬ 
verts the wet surface of the furrow slice, as well as the 
bottom of the furrow, to mortar; and till broken up and 
pulverized by frost or otherwise, such soil is unfit for any 
crop. 
If you sow grass seeds with your spring crops, put 
them on liberally, and they will succeed better if the 
roller is passed over them after sowing. Stinting the 
supply of seeds, is miserable policy. 
Dont forget to use plaster on your clover. Applied to 
newly sown clover, it ensures it against failure in nearly 
all cases; and on well rooted plants, it adds greatly to 
their vigor and their quantity. We have used it on peas 
with great success. 
If when planting corn you put a handful of a mixture 
of two parts of plaster, and one part of ashes in the hill 
it will leave a good effect on the crop. 
The garden must come in for a share of your attention 
this month. There is an idea quite prevalent among far¬ 
mers, but a mistaken one, that work in the garden is 
thrown away. The vegetable garden is an important 
part of the farm; the flower garden must be consigned 
to the wife and the daughters, and they will show their 
good sense and good taste, in not allowing this to be neg¬ 
lected. 
CULTURE OF THE POTATOE. ' 
from drouth. Taking advantage of the well known 
fact that tanner’s bark retains water very strongly. Prof. 
Voelker of Prussia, made some experiments with spent 
bark, and found that by covering his potatoe sets with 
two or three inches of this material before turning a 
furrow over them, he secured an abundant supply of 
moisture for the season, besides providing a loose, 
spongy bed for the young tubers. We hope some of our 
readers who have the means, will try the professor’s 
method, since if it shoukl succeed, a material which 
now has little value might be made useful to the agri¬ 
culturist. 
In order to obviate the diifieulfy arising from a dense 
clay soil,‘of poor quality, M. Auber of France, strewed 
liberally his potatoe sets with chali’made from rye straw, 
previous to their being covereil with earth. As the re¬ 
sults of experiments made for three years, he states that 
his crops have been most abundant and of the finest 
quality. This practice is one that could hardly fail of 
success in such soils; for if not as retentive of water as 
the tan bark, the clay soil renders the quality less neces¬ 
sary; and the material would furnish a fine corrective to 
compactness fatal to a large potatoe crop. 
NEW-YORK STATE AG. SOCIETY. 
The regular monthly meeting of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee was held at the Society’s Room in the State Hall, 
on the second Wednestlay of April—Vice-President 
Leland in the chair. 
The subject of calling a meeting of breeders for the 
purpose of discussing and settling, if possible, upon some 
criteria for deciding upon the merits of neat stock, was 
called up in pursuance of a resolution passed by the So¬ 
ciety at its last annual meeting. After considerable dis¬ 
cussion, a committee, consisting of Messrs. F. RoxeH, 
C. N. Bement, E. P. Prentice, Geo. Vail and L. F. 
Allen, was appointed to call a convention of breeders, 
to be held in the city of Albany at such time in July 
next as the committee should designate. 
A model of a very ingenious Corn-planter, to plant two 
rows at a time, was exhibited by Mr. Pratt of this city. 
Mr. Tucker, reported that the Transactions of the So¬ 
ciety would be ready for distribution in a few days, when, 
on motion it was 
Resolved, That the Recording Secretary be authorized 
to make arrangements for having the copies of the Tran¬ 
sactions, belonging to the Society, bound in the same 
style as the vol. for last year. 
On motion of Mr. Tucker, it was 
Resolved, That copies of the Transactions for the past 
year, be presented to each officer of the Society; to each 
life member, and to each person who had contributed $5 
or more to the funds of the Society during the year 1842, 
and to each contributor to the vol. Copies were also or¬ 
dered to be presented to several societies and editors of 
agricultural papers. 
A room having been assigned for the use of the Soci¬ 
ety in the old State Hall, in connection with the Geolo¬ 
gical Museum, the Society will be glad to receive dona¬ 
tions of scientific and agricultural works, models of im¬ 
plements, specimens of seeds, &c. &c. All parcels for 
the Society, may be addressed to the Secretary, Luther 
Tucker, Albany. 
COUNTY FAIRS. 
The Albany Co. 
Bull’s Head near 
It is found by experience, that in addition to the fer¬ 
tility or richness of soil indispensable for the profitable 
growth of any crop, the potatoe demands for its perfec¬ 
tion a considerable degree of moisture and a bed for 
tubers so light that their growth may be unobstructed. 
A sandy soil is sufficiently light, but it is most common¬ 
ly too dry; clay soils are moist enough ordinarily, but 
they are too heavy and compact. The best soil for po¬ 
tatoes is one that contains a large quantity of vegetable 
matter combined with the earths. Thus muck lands 
rarely fail of producing good potatoes, where water is 
not too abundant. Maine and Nova Scotia are justly 
celebrated for their potatoes; the newly cleared lands 
abounding in muck, and the climate insuring a supply 
of moisture. On a sandy soil, the potatoe should be 
planted in furrows, so that the roots may be below the 
general level of the earth, and hilling should be dis¬ 
pensed with ; where the soil is inclining to be heavy, or 
moist, the potatoes should be above the level, and hill¬ 
ing must be resorted to; not those little sharp cones of 
eartn some call potatoe hills, but made as broad on the 
surface as the distance between the rows and the proper 
working will admit. There is no necessity for the tu¬ 
bers being buried deep in hoeing or in growing; it is 
enough if they are fully excluded from light and air. 
Where potatoes are properly cultivated, the productive¬ 
ness may generally be well guessed in autumn by the 
appearance of the hills, which will be evidently en¬ 
larged, and cracked in all directions. 
We find in our foreign journals some notices of the 
culture of the potatoe, which our readers may find use- 
Ag. Society will hold their Fair at the 
this city, the first week in October. 
The list of premiums, rules, &c. will be published in 
our next paper. Teunis Van Vechten, President; Lu¬ 
ther Tucker, Albany, Cor. Sec y. 
The Cayuga Co. Ag. Society holds its next Fair at Au¬ 
burn, Oct. 11, 12. Its list of premiums is extensive, em¬ 
bracing a large number of mechanical productions of spe¬ 
cial importance to the farmer. J. M. Sherwood, Pre¬ 
sident, and W. C. Beardsley, Secretary, Auburn. 
The Cortland Co. Ag. Society hold their next Fair at 
Cortland Village, on the first Wednesday of Oct. next. 
About sixty of its premiums are to be paid in vols. of Ag¬ 
ricultural papers. In addition to the usual business, this 
Society has appointed about twenty ‘ ‘ Experimental Com¬ 
mittees,” who are to report on the various subjects al¬ 
lotted to them, and should these committees fulfil the du¬ 
ties assigned to them, a large mass of practical informa¬ 
tion of great value to the farmer, will be obtained. Amos 
Rice, Homei', Secretary. 
The Ontario Co. Ag. Society have issued their list of 
premiums to be awarded at their next Fair, which is to 
be held at Canandaigua, Oct. 17 and 18. The Managers 
reserve the right to pay a part of the premiums in agri¬ 
cultural publications. Were a considerable portion 
of the premiums awarded by Ag. Societies to be paid in 
works of this kind, much more permanent good would 
be effected than by their payment in cash or medals, as 
in this way a large amount of useful information would 
be distributed throughout the counties, which could 
hardly fail to produce a highly beneficial influence upon 
our agricultural interests. John Greig, Esq. Canandai¬ 
gua, is the President of this Society, and Oliver Phelps, 
of the same place. Secretary. 
The Rensselaer Co. Ag. Society have issued an exten¬ 
sive list of premiums to be awarded at Lansinburgh, 
Sept. 27, 28. Among the premiums are three for the 
best, 2d, and 3d best farms in each town in the county. 
At the late annual meeting of this Society, Wm. P. Van 
Rensselaer, Esq. of Greenbush, was chosen President, 
John J. Viele, Cor. Sec’y, Lansinburgh, 
